Library Acquisition: The Red Chamber

The Red Chamber is the second story in Tales from the Library, a series based on The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman. In the previous story, A Scandal in Montmartre, a routine mission to collect a rare copy of Candide by Voltaire for the Library turned deadly when scorpions attacked Kai in the Paris apartment of Count Lecerf. Irene and Kai suspect the count is Fae, but they have no proof. Particularly troubling was that the scorpions focused their attack exclusively on Kai.

Irene believes that Kai was targeted either because of some personal vendetta or because he's a dragon. Her supervisor Coppelia refuses to speculate until Irene obtains concrete evidence. For his part, Kai believes the trap had been set for any dragon who took the book. Dragons are sworn enemies to the Fae. But unless the count was unusually paranoid about dragon burglars, the only way the trap makes sense is if someone betrayed Irene and Kai to the count.

The Library learned about the rare book from a woman who claimed to be the count's former mistress. It now appears likely she was working for Lecerf all along. The only others who knew that Irene and Kai were assigned the mission are a limited number of Library personnel. One of them is Bradamant, a Librarian with a few years seniority to Irene. She has pulled some dirty tricks on Irene, but Irene views Bradamant's loyalty to the Library as unshakable.

In The Red Chamber, Irene and Kai are back in London. Peregrine Vale, London's greatest detective, brings them a case that will shed light on the significance of the Montmartre events.

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